Australian Red Cross was formed as a branch of the British Red Cross at Government House, Melbourne on 13th August 1914 by Lady Helen Munro-Ferguson, wife of the Governor-General, exactly nine days after the outbreak of World War I. Lady Munro-Ferguson had been a member of the British Red Cross in Fyfe, Scotland and she was acutely aware of the important role the organisation enjoyed in Britain.

At the same time she called on the wives of each State Governor to form a local committee in each capital, which they readily agreed to do, and so Australian Red Cross was born.

The main task of the first Australian Red Cross volunteers was to supply care parcels containing soap, toiletries, special food and games for sick and wounded troops.

Within weeks of formation, the Branch was providing clothing (flannel shirts, cardigans, socks and gloves), medical supplies and equipment. Soon Australian Red Cross expanded its services by shipping items such as mosquito nets, hospital clothing and materials, as well as more food parcels. It commenced the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD), whose members cared for the sick and wounded in hospitals, on trains during transport and in convalescent homes.

Red Cross was responsible for providing assistance to the survivors of the Battle of Gallipoli, the soldiers who fought in Egypt, the blind and those suffering from the effects of war.

In 1915 the Transport Service commenced, driving soldiers who had returned on the hospital ships to their homes or convalescent facilities. By the end of 1916 the total number of cars was 2,500 with more than half abroad, providing transport on the battlefields of France, Italy and East Africa.

Based on the experience of World War I, Australian Red Cross quickly realised that medical transport would be one of its main activities. Transport duties varied from daily ambulance rounds to hospitals and weekly outings with patients, to delivering and collecting materials.

Australian Red Cross developed the Cycle and Motor Cycle Corps, with volunteers delivering special Red Cross messages or small parcels.

The busiest time for the Transport Service was in 1945, when volunteer drivers met thousands of wounded servicemen and returning prisoners of war. Cars and busses appeared daily at wharves, airports and railway stations taking the soldiers to hospital or to convalescent homes.

Volunteers worked in hospitals throughout Australia during the war. Red Cross also supplied all personnel except for doctors and nurses for civil emergency hospitals and first aid posts. These Red Cross Aides cooked meals, carried out immunisation programs and organised blood donor drives.

At the same time Red Cross staff provided assistance to captured and wounded enemy soldiers undergoing treatment in military hospitals.

Providing humanitarian assistance to Australian Prisoners-of-War was one of the main tasks of Australian Red Cross. POWs received weekly food parcels, clothing, medical and other supplies. For hundreds, if not thousands, the Red Cross parcels meant survival. Many POWs in Germany, Italy and other European countries also received regular Red Cross deliveries, but the situation with POWs in the Far East was desperate with the Japanese Government refusing to permit the despatch of food parcels, medical supplies and clothing.

Australian Red Cross made numerous attempts to solve this impasse, but except for achieving approval for communication between POWs and their families, the situation remained difficult until the end of the war.

The scope of relief activities undertaken by Australian Red Cross during World War II was enormous. In 1945 we chartered the Admiral Chase to ship supplies to Europe. It transported 200,000 packets of cigarettes, one ton of tobacco, 40,000 pairs of socks, 25,000 undershirts, 20,000 underpants, 10,000 pairs of shoes and boots, 10,000 pairs of pyjamas, 5,000 overcoats, 20,000 yards of elastic and unspecified amounts of mirrors, vests, hair brushes, toys, towels, books, games, razors and hats.

Thousands of Australians spent hundreds of hours in Red Cross offices around the country, packing Red Cross parcels, sewing clothes and processing tracing requests.

The Red Cross Tracing and Message Service was one of the busiest services during World War II. The Geneva Conventions stipulate that those detained as enemy soldiers have a right to communicate with their families. If a family received a Red Cross Message from a soldier, it was a happy occasion it meant that he was alive.

For captured soldiers, news from home would bring at least some comfort and relief.

During the war hundreds of thousands of Red Cross Messages were processed by Australian Red Cross. During 1943 in the Far East some 230,000 letters were distributed to POW camps in Malaya, Java, Shanghai, Hong Kong, China, Burma and Japan.

Australian Red Cross carried out a vast range of other relief operations throughout the war, and provided assistance to Australian troops in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Pacific. In Egypt a surgical unit was established and its volunteers ran a mobile unit. In Papua New Guinea an army hospital was set up in Torokina, and in Britain a reception centre was opened for the anticipated release of Australian soldiers.

During the war Australian Red Cross had a Field Force that served alongside the medical services of the armed forces. In total 347 men and 193 women served in 23 countries, as well as on hospital ships and aircraft carriers. Just as they did following World War I, Red Cross volunteers remained active providing support and assistance to returned servicemen and their families.

The Second Geneva Convention of 1929, states in Articles 9 and 10 that Red Cross volunteers can be deployed alongside and equally with official medical personnel of the armed forces in the task of searching for, and evacuation of, wounded or killed soldiers, and in the prevention of disease in the armed forces.

World War II was the testing ground for Australian Red Cross, placing much bigger challenges on our volunteers and services, and demanding enormous effort to meet the needs of all those in distress. This was also the period of independence from Britain in 1938 Australian Red Cross was formally recognised as an autonomous National Society, and was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1941.

Its official name became The Australian Red Cross Society.

In the period between World Wars I and II, Australian Red Cross continued to care for returned servicemen and expanded its role to assist the sick and needy in the wider community. It was during this time that one of our best known services was established.

After the 1950s, Australian Red Cross continued to expand its domestic and overseas humanitarian operations.

During the Korean War, we continued to provide services to Australian troops with volunteers visiting hospitals, facilitating correspondence with families at home and organising help for released Prisoners-of-War.

It was during this time that the overseas activities of Australian Red Cross started taking shape. Provision of emergency relief assistance in disasters and conflicts, implementation of development programs and deployment of professional delegates all became standard activities of Australian Red Cross.

At home, we focused on fulfilling the needs of the vulnerable in the community through services such as Meals on Wheels, Telecross, and First Aid, Health and Safety.

The National Office of Australian Red Cross is based in Melbourne. The CEO has Society-wide and international responsibilitites. State and Territory Offices are located in each capital city and are responsible for membership and the provision of local services and programs.

In Australia, we provide over 60 community services. These include:

• Disaster and Community Services (such as Meals on Wheels)
• Tracing and Refugee Services
• First Aid, Health and Safety Services
• Australian Red Cross Blood Service

Australian Red Cross is an active member of the International Red Cross movement which operates in 186 countries around the world. Working closely with fellow Red Cross Societies, our greatest focus is on development programs which respond to the needs of vulnerable people and promote humanitarian values.

Our international work includes not only response to disasters and emergencies, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 2006 Indonesian earthquake, but also ongoing community programs that support vulnerable people and offer them the opportunity to improve their lives.

Australian Red Cross Aid Workers are deployed around the world working on programs that address the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, provide clean water and sanitation systems and blood services throughout the Asia Pacific region.